Bluefield_Rules

I didn't attend or listen to the game, so I have no details. There would be nothing really to say other than Bluefield beat a team they should have and improved to 5-1. Bluefield has Shady Spring again Tuesday on the road before facing a major test against Beckley on Friday night and hosting Summers County on Saturday night...

Actually it was 2000 and 2001 that Graham beat Bluefield at Princeton's Holiday Tournament. Bluefield has won that event the past two years, 2002 and 2003. Surprised? You should have been there. Bluefield is very lucky they did lose by 40 or 50. The game was never close as Graham dominated from start to finish. Graham gave Bluefield a lesson in fundamentals tonight as Bluefield looked as if they had never been coached a day in their life. Graham dominated every single aspect of the game from rebounding and defense to hustle and passing. I lost count of the times tonight that a single Graham player out-rebounded three Bluefield players with ease simply b/c they blocked out. Graham is very well coached and I guess the only solace I take from tonight is at least their great coach is a Bluefield grad...

The Beaver/Graham rivalry has been known to divide families over the years, but tonight that goes to another level. Junior Graham guard, Kevin Matthews, will face his brother Bluefield sophomore big man, Tremayne Matthews, in tonight's clash of unbeaten teams. It'll be the first regular season match up between the schools on the hardwood since 1985 and it should be a barn-burner...

The final score was closer than the game actually was as Bluefield rested the starters in the 4th with showdown versus Graham looming tomorrow night. Bluefield led comfortably throughout the contest as they forced an amazing 38 Shady turnovers. Bluefield continued its much improved outside shooting as they torched the Shady zone defense. Kenny Bogart led Bluefield with 16, Dustin Wade added 15, and Kelly Mariotti chipped in with 11. As I mentioned previously, Bluefield meets Graham in a showdown of unbeatens tomorrow night at Graham Middle School. It should be a very intense and exciting game as both teams pretty much mirror one another in defensive and offensive strategy...

I'm really excited for the Bluefield/Graham hardwood series to begin against next week after over a decade. Although, I believe that the first game is going to be played at Bluefield and the Feb. game will be played at Graham. That was agreed upon following the December 16 game being postponed due to the football just having ended for both schools...

Another Bluefield product headed to the dark side of Virginia. How will it feel for those Graham folks that are Hokie fans to root for the opposite team Bradshaw is playing for? I know I always hoped Isabelle played great against the Hokies, but that the Cavs got pounded at the same time...lol

I see we have some Tolsia fans that like to lurk here, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten eight votes thus far. No one outside of a Tolsia fan would actually believe they can come into AA and win a state title after not being able do so in A...

Princeton sophomore, Tanner Otey, collapsed while on the bench drinking some water early in the game, suffering an apparent seizure. The young man was taken to Princeton Community Hospital and later pronounced dead. It’s a truly sad situation. My prayers and best to his family, friends, and teammates.

As for second best kicker, I'd go with Brian Terry. He played for Bluefield in the mid to late 1990s and graduted in 1998. He walked-on at Tennessee as a kicker and was recruited to kick at Marshall, although he was never made aware of that until the folks at Tennessee informed him of such...

Actually Glen Keene was Sarver's back up in 1996 and did a great job of filling in for him following the season-ending injury. In the state semi-final game that year Bluefield marched down the field on first the series and scored easily on East Bank, as the Pioneers had no answer for the Keene-Isabelle backfield combo. Then following an East Bank punt on their first series Bluefield began marching again, but on about the fifth play of that drive Keene separated his shoulder on a QB scramble and didn't return until the very final drive of that football game. Freddy Simon Jr., then a sophomore replaced him, and Bluefield was doomed. Simon couldn't pass worth a lick and was no threat to run the football. East Bank was able to key in on Isabelle the rest of the night and the rest is pretty much history. As I said though, Keene, after begging the coaches most of the second half, was finally put back in at QB and led Bluefield down the field inside the East Bank 10-yard line with under 30 seconds left in the game. Keene's 3rd down pass to the front corner of the endzone bounced off the hands of his receiver and into the arms of an East Bank defender sealing the victory for them. Depsite the loss, Keene's guts, heart, and desire to come back into the game with a severely separated shoulder and lead Bluefield down the field as he did is something I'll never forget. It's unfortunate that his determination and effort wasn't rewarded with the "W."

Westside loses 21 of 22 starters next season, so it'll be a major rebuilding job for those guys next year...

Thanks. I'm depending on you to keep us updated on each of Graham's games this year...lol

How badly did the G-Men beat Richlands tonight?

It's the Weir Red Riders, not Raiders...

As I've said since RR was hired that WVU fans needed to be patient and allow him to get his type of players into the system. Such a process usually takes four years at the least to accomplish...

I'm aware of the circumstance surrounding Graham having not played yet, but other Virginia teams in the area have played upwards of six games and we've only heard about Narrows. I read in the Bluefield paper today that Pulaski County beat Princeton last night and moved to 6-0 in doing so. I've heard nothing about PC on this board. I'd just like to see more game reports and info on Virginia teams b/c I'd like to know what's going on. You don't get the basketball coverage you do football and as such my knowledge of Virginia hoops outside of the SWD isn't much. What's Martinsburg doing this year? How about the River and Blue Ridge teams?

Outside of Narrows we've not had a single Virginia score or recap all year. The other schools in the SWVA area have basketball teams right?

Bluefield, now 3-0, led throughout the game and won going away in the fourth quarter. A nice win for the Beavers on the road against a fellow top 5 ranked team in AA. Dustin Wade led Bluefield with 22 points, Kenny Bogart had 19 with Kelly Mariotti and Garrett Patterson chipping in with 14 and 13 respectively. Beckley transfer John Lafferty led Oak Hill with 25 points (18 in the first half) and Michael Donnelly added 11 for Oak Hill. Bluefield returns to action next Friday night on the road at Princeton against the Tigers for a second time this early season. Bluefield's JV also won, 79-17...

They're suppose to play Richlands...

I cannot believe you're going to complain about a season in which you started 1-4 and then reeled off seven straight wins. A season that started with you having to replace numerous key graduated seniors including the entire offensive and defensive lines, but yet finished 6-1 in the Big East. Yes, yesterday's performance was I'm sure very disappointing, but look at the big picture. You guys overachieved in the minds of many. RR is one helluva of a coach IMO and WVU should feel lucky to have him...

Narrows must be slipping to only have scored 74 points this time...lol

The Tazewell job is going to be a hard sell, especially to an established coach at a good program, b/c of various issues that exist there. Tazewell is a prime example of what happens when politics run a high school sports program. I would be very surprised to see Colobro leave GC for Tazewell considering the talent at GC and having just won a state title. In addition, there is no way Freddie Simon would even entertain the thought of leaving Bluefield for another high school job around here, especially at the likes of Tazewell. Simon graduated from Bluefield, played at Bluefield, and has it made at Bluefield with the talent and monetary backing the program receives.

I saw Graham's coach at the Princeton Tournament on Saturday night and he stopped to talk with the guys that sat beside of me. I believe I heard him say Graham plays its first game on Saturday at home against Richlands...

I believe Junior is being groomed for the Graham job once his father retires and wouldn't be interested in coaching at Tazewell...

PRINCETON - Princeton Senior High School may join the Mountain State Athletic Conference in 2005. The possible move, the subject of speculation in a published report on Friday, projects that the Tigers may become the 14th member of the conference following the addition to the MSAC earlier this month of Woodrow Wilson. Princeton football coach Ted Spadaro, whose team has encountered a series of scheduling headaches related to the Tigers' gridiron success and the declining number of AAA teams in southern West Virginia in recent years, noted affiliation with the MSAC could provide significant advantages for PSHS. "Spring Valley has dropped us from their schedule for next season and Beckley earlier gave us only a one-year contract," Spa-daro said in a radio interview during the First Community Bank basketball tournament this weekend. A year earlier, University High was among three teams that decided not to schedule the Tigers, who have posted a 30-14 mark during the past four years and have reached the quarterfinals of the AAA football playoffs twice. "Right now, we have seven games scheduled for next year. We have four dates available to schedule three games. We are willing to play any AAA or big AA school we can schedule," he continued. With the addition of Beckley, the MSAC is now a 13-member conference. With the odd number of teams, the conference's East and West Division basketball format is thrown out of balance, with one division having seven teams while the other has six. Before Beckley was added, basketball teams played their divisional rivals twice and opposing rivals once. Princeton, Greenbrier East, and Beckley are the only three AAA schools in West Virginia south of the Kanawha Valley. Thus, affiliation with the MSAC would solve some significant scheduling challenges. The Charleston Daily Mail reported on Friday that MSAC athletic directors are considering the addition of the Tigers or Spartans as the 14th team in the loop, and the paper also reports that Princeton may have the inside track on gaining an invitation to join the conference. If Princeton is added to the conference, its affiliation will begin in 2005, according to Spadaro. Asked whether the move is "a lock," Spadaro said, "I wouldn't say it's certain, but it would solve some scheduling challenges if it happens." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2088&dept_id=346228&newsid=10723432&PAG=461&rfi=9